


take my hand (take my whole life too)

by gendryw4ters



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Canon Era, Drabble, Fluff, M/M, Oneshot, foxhole snuggles, it starts off kinda sad but then really cheers up towards the end, it takes place the night after the 'watch the goddamn line' scene in bastogne, the babe with the power (and by power i mean he can def read palms okay), they both need a little cheering up and that is what they get themselves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-13
Updated: 2017-05-13
Packaged: 2018-10-31 04:51:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10892076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gendryw4ters/pseuds/gendryw4ters
Summary: Babe snatched up his hand in a heartbeat, as though worried that Gene might change his mind. He peered at it closely, pulling all of the right faces and making all of the right "mm"s and "ah"s and "oh"s as he traced the faint bloodied lines of Gene's skin with the lightest of touches. Gene's breath hitched in his throat at the feel of it.





	take my hand (take my whole life too)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ruinsrebuilt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruinsrebuilt/gifts).



> this is a little different to my usual fare, but i hope you enjoy it all the same!  
> it starts off a little sad but it's fluffy by the end i swear. this was also almost exclusively dialogue up until about two hours ago, when i realised i should probably try and give it a little pzazz. im still not sure the pzazz has come through, but i hope it has done in some way at least aha<3
> 
> (unbetad! and no disrespect intended whatsoever- to soldiers or psychics)

Gene's grandmother had always told him that it would be his heart that would get him into trouble.  

He had laughed it off at the time, proclaiming that there was nobody who could ever even come close to stealing his heart away from home. 

And that, he supposed, was true. It _belonged_ there, back home. Running wild and barefoot through the trees, splashing about in overgrown, evergreen pools as he chased around whatever fancy looking insect had caught his attention that day- that was where it was supposed to be. 

It most certainly wasn't supposed to be here, juddering wildly in the depths of a freezing foxhole somewhere out in the middle of the Ardennes- splintering into a thousand tiny pieces over a girl he had only just met, or the heartbroken look in the eyes of the man sitting across from him in the frosted pit they were now calling home.  

The girl, he almost understood. Death had never been easy for him, and so to have her snatched away like that- so kind and so pure and then so _gone_ , he should have known it would leave him feeling this way. In a way, it often reminded him of the time his mother had suddenly ripped a sparkler out from his young hands with a cry, shoving it hastily into a bucket of water they had kept outside for the dogs. 

 _"H_ _ow many times Genie? You play with fire, you'll burn your fingers! You have to put it out before it gets too close_ _,_ _é_ _teignez_ _-le!"_  

 _É_ _teignez_ _-le_ _._ Extinguish it. It was beautiful, a glimmering beacon of warmth and hope on that numbing November eve. The thought makes him laugh now, that he had once found those nights at home to be _numbing._  The sparks had gotten close, sure, but the warmth against his skin had just been so damn inviting, so _tempting._  

Just once, he thinks, examining his bloodied hands in the dreary light of the moon. Just once he would like to watch them ignite. 

The man- _boy,_ he amends. They were all just boys. The boy sat across from him sniffled a little, bluing fingers coming up to wipe at his nose.  

"H-hey, Gene?" His voice came out in a harsh, hoarse whisper. Thick with exhaustion and heartache and _something else_ that Gene just couldn't quite pin down. "You- you still awake?" 

Gene nodded, mustering what he hoped was a smile. "Yeah. Can't really sleep. Gotta- gotta be awake in case they need me, ya know?" 

The boy shifted upwards a little, copper locks springing from beneath his helmet as he knocks it against the wall of their hole. _Edward,_ Gene remembers now. His name is Edward. 

Edward scoots a little closer to him at that, offering Gene half of the blanket he'd been trying to drift off to sleep under earlier that night. "You should still get some rest, if you can. I'll- I'll wake ya, if they want anything." 

"I-" Gene paused. Considered it for a moment. "I can't," he conceded with a soft sigh, "I don't think I'd really be able to sleep much even if they didn't need me, anyways. Thank you, though." 

Edward bit his lip, frowning. A brief silence befell them once again, and it was almost eerie- the shelling having seemingly come to a temporary halt during the night at some point.  

Edward was the first to break it. 

"Hey Gene?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Talk to me... Tell me... Tell me about home, Gene," he insisted, "I wanna hear about the bayou. It hot out there?" 

Gene's breathing jammed in his throat. That had caught him off guard.  

"Hotter than this, that's for damn sure," he finally managed, relaxing somewhat as Edward huffed out a soft little laugh. 

"No shit," the boy chuckled, resting his head against Gene's shoulder. Whilst this in itself wasn't entirely unusual, many of the men - _boys-_ had taken to pressing closely together for added warmth, it didn't stop Gene's heart from beating just that little bit quicker. A soft auburn strand fell haphazardly across the other's face, and the sparkler crossed his mind once more. 

"What's- what's it like other than that though?" He's snapped from his thoughts by Edward's resounding question, though soon found himself delving back in for more, struggling to find an answer to it. 

"It's... It's nice."  

"Nice?" 

"Yeah," he nodded, gaining both traction and confidence as it became clear that Edward hadn't just been looking to fill the silence with mindless mumbling. At first, Gene had thought that maybe he was- though now it almost seemed as though there was a real genuine interest in the medic's life beyond the war.  

And even if there wasn't, Gene had to admit that this was much more pleasant than silence. 

"It's real nice, actually. Beautiful, in fact. Even the cities, but that's... They weren't home. Home was Bayou Chene. It was pretty small I guess, and quiet- nothing like South Philly, I'm sure- but it was home." 

After that, Edward – who kept on insisting that his name was Babe and that Gene had called him it once so why couldn't he do it again? - had told him about his own life in the city; which as it turned out had not been all that different from Gene's at all. Both had come from warm, loving families. Both had sisters. Both had had _questionable_ relationships and friendships and everything in between. 

The only thing the city was lacking outside of scenery, Edward had concluded, was magic. 

"But there ain't no magic in the bayou, either Ed," Gene had sighed for what felt like the fiftieth time that night. A small smile was tugging at the corners of his lips, however- as he was finding the young redhead's enthusiasm all too endearing. 

"But your granma- _grand-mere,_ " Edward corrected, and his terrible take on the Cajun accent was only a little less so. Still, Gene had to admire him for trying. It wasn't the easiest to even comprehend, let alone mimic- though he figured George Luz might be able to give it a good go.

"Your grand-mere, she was magic- healing people up like that? Sounds pretty magic to me." 

"No, not magic," Gene laughed softly in reply, pushing a hand through his hair in mock-frustration. "We've been over this, she was a _faith_ healer. A _traiteuse._  Not a wizard." 

"Did you ever know any wizards though?" 

"Edward," he laughed again, and it felt good to do so- if a little weird given the circumstances. He playfully shoved the other's arm away, before bringing his hand up to stroke his chin in thought. "Though there was an old lady at the end of my street who claimed to be psychic. She could, ya know," he waved his hand a little, "do card readings and seances and whatnot. I went once actually." 

Edward's brow furrowed a little at that, and Gene knew exactly where his mind had gone. The same place that everyone else's minds always went whenever anyone mentioned such practices.  

 _Who have you lost?_  

Though this- his visit to her- had been before he'd ever even known loss. Real loss, at least. 

"Asked her if she could get through to this frog I'd run over on my bicycle, tell it I was sorry," he shrugged, enjoying the grin that lights up Edward's face perhaps just a little too much. "Best two dimes I ever spent, too." 

"What'd she say?" 

"She looked me dead in the eyes, and told me the frog was at peace, that he wished me a long and happy life, and that he didn't want me to feel bad about it. She told me it in a croaky voice too, for added realism." 

"Really?" 

"No, she told me to fuck off," Gene grinned, barely managing to keep his laughter contained, "but she had a bowl of candies by the doorway and I got a handful as I left." 

Edward – it's _Babe,_ he prefers Babe – had snorted a laugh at that, clamping a hand down over his lips to stop himself from making too much noise. It would perhaps look stupid to an outsider, to see two soldiers sat _giggling_ together in their foxhole after having seen nothing but death and destruction for the last few days. But Gene found that he didn't really care what others would think of them.  

Found that all he cared about right now was keeping Babe smiling. 

Babe, who was now looking rather thoughtful- laughter having subsided a considerable amount. 

"Did she ever do futures? Like, palmistry, things like that?" 

"Oh yeah sure, she'd read palms. I never got mine done though- not cause I was banned from her practice or anything either- I just don't really believe in all that crap." 

"Really?" Babe's brow had quirked upwards for a moment. "Well that's a damn shame." 

And now it was Gene's turn to be confused. "Whaddaya mean by that?" 

"Well, it's just that," Babe began, words tumbling languidly from his lips in that way that suggested something juicy was being withheld. "I mean, I _can_ read palms, y'know? And I woulda offered to do yours for you right now, for free, but clearly my efforts would be wasted." 

"A palm reader, huh?" Gene hummed, smirking. "No shit. Had much success with it?" 

"Loads, actually. I'm really good at it." 

"Oh yeah?" 

"Oh yeah. With God as my witness." 

Well, that was enough for Gene. Sighing heavily, and going entirely against his better judgement, he had found himself offering up his hand. 

"Fine, do your worst." 

Babe snatched up the hand in a heartbeat, as though worried that Gene might change his mind. He peered at it closely, pulling all of the right faces and making all of the right "mm"s and "ah"s as he traced the faint bloodied lines of Gene's skin with the lightest of touches. Gene's breath hitched in his throat at the feel of it. 

"Huh, that's... That's real interesting, actually," Babe's brows were pinched in thought as he returned Gene's hand to his side.

Gene missed the contact immediately, though didn't want to kick up a fuss. 

"It is?" 

"Yeah, says here that, well, I dunno how to tell ya Gene-" Babe was taking it slow, but Gene was getting impatient. 

"What does it say?" He insisted, now suddenly a little worried. Had Babe seen something _bad_? 

Babe had only chuckled knowingly, which had reassured Gene a little. "Well, if you're sure. It says uh, well... Your hands have been telling me that later in the day you're gonna trade away a box of smokes to a rather handsome, rather charming redhead who's sadly all out of them at the minute. Oh, and also, you're going to stop calling him Edward." 

Gene's eyes widened, his jaw dropping a little as he gasped out a laugh at the sheer _nerve_ of it. He was about to interrupt when Babe had cut him off once more. 

"It uh, it also appears as though you're worried about something," the teasing smirk of only moments ago now a small but wholly sincere smile, warm gaze coming up to meet Gene's in the moonlight. "But that there's no need to be. That very same handsome, charming, oh so humble redhead you're gonna give the smokes to is going to look out for you. It's written in the stars- I mean- palms. Your palm, in fact." He concluded with a nod, drawing his bottom lip into his mouth to chew on it shyly. 

Gene let his words wash over him for a moment, the way the tides wash over the shoreline and scrape all of the dirt and debris away. He felt lighter, warm. Perhaps this was burning your fingers. 

"Promise?" 

"Promise," Babe breathed, and then the teasing smirk was back. "But how about a smoke, huh? For the humblest psychic in the whole of the fucking Ardennes." 

Gene sighed and rolled his eyes, grinning a little as he fished his last box of cigarettes out from the depths of his pocket. He'd been meaning to pick up some more, though he hadn't felt up to it so much lately. Maybe quitting wouldn't be so bad.  

"Here." He dropped them carefully onto the other's lap. " _Pour vous_." 

Babe looked almost as though the war had ended right then and there. 

"Ya serious?"  

Gene only shrugged and nodded, feeling a bubble of warmth blossom in his chest at the smile Babe was now flashing him- and if this _was_ burning your fingertips, then Gene wanted to be entirely alight.  

"I'm serious. On account of you lettin' me have a go, that is." 

"A go at what, Gene?" Babe licked his lip, and Gene wondered for a moment if he would go to hell for the thought that crossed his mind. 

"Let me do yours. Read your palm, I mean," he explained, nudging his knee against Babe's side. 

Babe's head shook frantically, another giggle bursting quickly from his lips. "You can't Gene, it's gotta be in your blood. It's not something you can just do." 

"My grandmother was a witch-" 

"-You said that she wasn't!" 

"Give me your hand!"  

Babe rolled his eyes at the demand, placing his hand palm up in Gene's.

It was all wrapped up in tattered blue cloth that made the holder's chest ache once again, though he managed to brush it aside, smirking around a huff of "other one, idiot." 

Babe complied with only a little more complaint. 

"Oh mighty Gene," he had drawled after a good five minutes of the boy in question staring intently at his palm. "Pray tell me, what do my clammy hands say?" 

"Hmm, looks to be saying here that..." Gene begun, waggling his eyebrows as Babe just grinned in response- already knowing that this was gonna be good. "Says that you're gonna be just fine, cause that weird little medic that the _handsome_ redhead has promised to look out for is going to be looking out for him as well. He's gonna be by your side for the rest of this goddamn war, in fact. Even after it, maybe, if you'll have him. Oh, and Heffron?"  

The return of the formalities snapped Babe out of his trance (because oh yeah, that had been _good,_ better than he could ever have imagined even in his wildest dreams).

He was pretty sure Gene's teasing smile would be enough to keep him warm for the rest of the night.

"Get ready. Ya gotta keep watchin' the goddamn line." 

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed this fun little ride, if you have any questions or anything like that, then im always around on tumblr under the same name as i am here!! 
> 
> i fear some of what ive said might not make all that much sense since its 3am and i am /sleepy/, but i hope it does. i think it does. there's not much else anyone can ask of me than that.
> 
> much love to you all, i hope you're having a lovely night! x


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